-- The Sword: the crossguard is fashioned to resemble a stag's antlers; the two-handed grip is wrapped with string made from the gut of forest tigers; the steel pommel is fashioned into the likeness of the hooves of elk.

-- The scene on the mountain ties into the creation of the sword. The chanting and mystic rite serves to render the sword invincible.

-- The attack comes at dawn. It is graphic and bloody, in the book. Even children are described in the massacre. One little girl has her throat pulled out by a war dog that chased her down. Conan wasn't fishing, as shown in the film.

-- Nial is a hell of a fighter. He takes out several of the attackers.

-- Young Conan fights with a knife, hamstringing an enemy. He fights along side his father.

-- The invaders wear bronze and iron breastplates, and leather armor. Their weapons were iron. Which is interesting. This means that steel came into more wide-spread use during Conan's lifetime.

-- Conan's mother fights with a broadsword, and she is a vixen. Her name is Maeve.

-- The enemy is a Vanir raiding party and not a mixed force (including Picts) as shown in the film.

-- Unlike in the film, the Cimmerians actually beat back the Vanir. There is a lull in the fighting. Little Conan utters a prayer to Crom, but his mother tells him that Crom does not hear his prayers.

Crom is a god of frosts and stars and storms, not of humankind.

-- The Vanir withdraw outside the village, and the archers start to pellet the Cimmerians with blankets of brass tipped arrows. The Cimmerians had created a shield-wall, and it crumbled with men dying and shafts sticking from their vitals. Then, the Vanir loosed the hounds! It's a hell of a fight! As the Cimmerians dealt with the war dogs, the Vanir archers were ordered to let fly another flight.

-- I thought the Vanir would shun the bow, as do the Cimmerians, seeing the weapon as that used by women and children, or only for hunting.

-- Nial goes down when his leg is hit by an arrow. He becomes a pin-cushion. His hand is stapled to the ground by one of the arrows. Then, the dogs get to him to finish him off. What a way to go!

-- Rexor directs the battle from a hill across the river from the village. No mention is made yet of Thulsa Doom. Is Rexor a Vanir?

-- This strikes me as strange, too: when it was obvious that they had lost (the must have failed a Morale check based on number of casualties), the Cimmerians surrendered. All but Maeve and Conan threw their weapons at their attackers' feet.

-- Maeve is out of breath from the fighting, not standing motionless as in the film. She leans on her broadsword. Her son, Conan, stands ready, knife in hand, a cub that bites. Maeve is half naked, as this attack happened before she and the rest of the village had risen for the day. One of her breasts is exposed having fallen from its covering as she fought. She did not find modesty now.

-- The Vanir raiders kneel as the commander rides towards the last two Cimmerians to brandish weapons, Conan and his mother. The Vanir chant his name.

-- Rexor and Doom leave the Vanir sometime during this journey. Captives speculate that the Vanir paid the two for their services in the raid.

-- It is Spring before the Vanir reach their destination, the walled Vanir town of Thrudvang.

-- The Wheel is a grinder. It grinds grain--mainly corn--to make flour and bread. The slaves that perish are fed to the dogs.

-- Years pass with Conan on the Wheel, day in and day out.

-- Conan has a head for languages. He becomes fluent in Vannish, listening to his captors, and he picks up some Aquilonian and Nemedian from fellow captives. But, Conan remains un-lettered. He cannot write. This is applicable to the RPG, given the languages a character can speak.

-- This is neat: Sometimes the text is broken by an italicized section where King Conan speaks to his chronicler about the events being told.

-- A famine came to Thrudvang. Plague killed all the slaves died except for Conan. To the astonishment of the Vanir, the one Cimmerian could turn the Wheel, and he did so for several days until new slaves were brought to the town. Word spread wide of this deed by those who traveled to Thrudvang to have their grain milled.

-- The coins used to purchase Conan were gold, coins of a square shape. The man who purchased the barbarian seems to be Hyrkanian. He does have red, ragged hair, and a beard, but also slanted eyes and wears armor of lacquered leather. His name is Toghrul (which is a Hyrkanian name).

You are skilled at landing fear into the souls of your enemies. Demoralize Other is a use of the Intimidate skill.

Benefit: Demoralize Others is a standard action that can be combined with a (standard action) attack during combat. In addition, the demoralizing (shaken) effect can possibly remain in effect for a number of rounds. The demoralized character is allowed a check each round as a free action to shrug off the effect. The target rolls his modified level check against the original Intimidate throw at the start of his combat round. The shaken/demoralized effect continues if this roll is failed.

Normal: Demoralize Other is used as described under the Intimidate skill.

When converting a standard D&D adventure, or an adventure from most other fantasy games, for use in a Conan game, the GM will most likely dispense with most of the "drops" that are common in such things. Things like +1 daggers, rings of invisibility, cloaks of protection, and what not are either dropped from the adventure completely or converted to their mundane counterparts.

One idea that a GM can use for magical scrolls is to change them to herbal recipes. There are lots of concoctions to be found in the various Conan RPG supplements that show items that can be created with the Craft (Herbalism) or Craft (Alchemy) skills. Plus, there are other, non-Conan supplements that feature lots of usable herbalism ideas.

So, when converting a D&D adventure for use with a Conan game, a GM comes across a scroll of magic missile, he might want to consider either dropping the item all together, or making it a mundane item (like blank parchment--which is rare and can be sold...or making the scroll a note that is a clue or "pull" to another adventure), or substituting the magic missile scroll for something like a recipe for the herbal drug, Grey Desert Lotus*.

Grey Desert Lotus

This is an herbal drug, which is treated in the rules like a type of poison that has beneficial effects but requires saving throws against harmful side effects. At the GM's option, repeated use of a herbal drug could cause addiction.

Grey Desert Lotus leaves are powdered and mixed with water. The drying and powdering process is what is covered by the Craft (Herbalism) throw. Anyone can mix the powdered result with water--Herbalism skill is not needed.

Drinking this mixture will boost Strength by +2 for 1d3 hours. A DC 15 Fortitude save must be made to avoid a penalty -1 Wisdom. One hour later, another save must be made and if this save is failed, the person becomes nervous and skittish (treat as shaken).

The shaken effect will wear off with the STR bonus. Any Wisdom damage will heal naturally after the concoction dissipates in the body with the STR bonus effect.

Craft (Herbalism)
DC 20
Average Market Price: 20 sp.

*Grey Desert Lotus is something I found in the adventure anthology called The Spider-God's Bride and Other Tales of Swords and Sorcery, published by Xoth.net Publishing.

Isn't that a much more interesting item to put into your game rather than a plain old Magic Missile spell? If the players are interested, herbalism could become a major focus in your campaign.

Note, though, that herbalistic items are rarely found for sale in many parts of the Known World. Civilized and uncivilized communities, alike, view herbalism as a finger of sorcery! Thus, one who dabbles in the effects of plants may find himself outcast or even hunted by society at large. Jealous priests look upon such things as either Holy--something reserved for the most Holy of their religion--or as Evil--something that needs to be smited from the face of the Earth!

A good source of Conan material for your roleplaying game are the various novels and short stories (and comics), both those written by Robert E. Howard and those that are not.

Here are some notes from Chapter One of Robert Jordan's book, Conan The Invincible. You can see how a GM can take these notes and run with them, creating characters and situations for discovery by the players.

A GM can use these notes as a starting point. Or, the GM can continue with the note-taking, making an adventure faithful to the source material.

Built into the steep rock of the Kezankian Mountains. Its dark corridors of stone chiseled with serpentine shapes leads into the heart of the mountain. Tall doors open into a column circled room with mosaic floor—a serpent surrounded by what looks like rays of the sun. Captives bound and gagged near the walls.

There is an altar: a block of red-streaked black marble. The trough around the rim of the marble pours into a large, golden bowl.

Amanar chants, and red and golden mists form behind the altar, billowing and flowing like fire. Now, there is space there--where there was only wall before--behind the mist—deep space. Looking at it is like looking into the deep black of the Abyss. Roll Fear of the Unknown Check? Describe this to make the hair on the players' arm stand up.

“Morath-Aminee, O Eater of Souls, whose third name is death to hear, death to say, death to know, thy servant Amanar brings these offerings to thy sacrifice.”

Morath-Aminee: Not quite serpentine or lizard. Golden scales. A halo of tentacles. See the book cover. Long body with head. Snake tongue. Teeth. Eyes dance like red flames.

Amanar slits the man’s throat with a golden dagger. Sitha hands it to him.

The tentacles from the demon strike at the blood to drink, but they avoid Amanar and his amulet.

“Eat, O Morath-Aminee.”

The demon also sucks the soul of the sacrifice. The sacrifice realizes that he is not dying even though his life's blood is draining from his neck. He cannot speak with his throat slit, but his eyes tell the tale. He's losing something more than ust his life.

HILLMEN

Who live in the Kezankians. The give the Bastion a wide berth. They even make the Sign of the Horns to ward off evil even at the mention of the place.

AMANAR

A Necromancer. He's darkly handsome and has a close, cropped black beard. Short hair with a white, serpentine streak. Red flecks in his eyes.

He wears a black robe with gold embroidered serpents that tie the robe a the waist. They swing up the back, entwining, over his shoulder to rest on his chest. Jewels for eyes.

Amanar’s Amulet: A golden serpent in the clutches of a silver hawk. This protects him.

Background: Amanar studied at the feet of the Black Ring mages in Khemi, Stygia. He read the dreaded Book of Typhon. It is said that no human mind can comprehend the terrible knowledge contained in the book, or even learn a single word of it without madness and death.

Amanar read a single page. Even this sent him running out of the city into the desert like a howling madman.

He cannot die because of what he read. But, he was mad, living in hell, ever wrestling with the evil knowledge that he had learned. He came upon the ruins of Pteion the Accursed and found there, bound for rebellion against Set, Morath-Aminee. He released the god-demon, bound it to his will, and protected himself with the amulet.

Sorcerery: To keep body parts, like hearts, fresh. On a golden plate.

No mortal weapon will harm him until his soul is taken from him. If you cut him, he does not bleed.

S’TARRA - AMANAR’S HENCHMEN

Description: Look like ordinary men from a distance. But, their faces are slightly pointed. Red flecks in eyes. Skin shows reptilian scales. Elongated hands have claws.

Way back when, when I ran my long-term campaigns playing AD&D and AD&D 2E, one of the rules I used was that character level advancement usually (not always) required some sort of mentor/teacher/trainer. This could be some grizzled old war veteran who could teach a new move, or this could be some long, lost grimoire that revealed new spells and new secrets about the true nature of the universe. Sometimes, it was an angel/avatar/servant of some god sent to the faithful to guide them along their spiritual path.

The one thing all these methods of learning had in common was that they cost money. They took up tie and resources.

I note that the Xoth Player's Guide above suggests stiff payment for training. That book suggests this as a method for keeping the PCs low in coin, in the true Sword & Sorcery style.

For a Conan campaign, I suggest that the GM consider training as an option but not to assign any hard and fast rules to them. It is clear, at least to me, that Conan improved by himself through his many careers. There was no master thief that mentored him Shadizar, but Conan probably learned the use of the bow from someone during his journeys.

I suggest, from time to time, use trainers, mentors, and teachers in your game--but don't require it for every level advancement. If a player wants is character to have a specific Feat, then maybe a teacher is required for that one feat. Or, maybe a Nomad classed character wants to multi-class into a Pirate. Obviously, that's a strange combination, and the GM is within his rights to require the character to spend some time at sea among pirates. Maybe, in your campaign, the players become slave gladiators, or maybe northern pit fighters, or maybe soldiers in some mad king's army. The GM can skip time, advancing the campaign's timeline a year or two (or even play out the PCs time as a mercenary), allowing this to open up the Soldier class as a multi-classing option.

Books can be found that will help characters learn a new language. An old, one-eyed thief can be employed to teach a character how to pick locks.

What I'm suggesting here is to not just allow character to improve by themselves all the time. That should be the norm, but use common sense. If a player wants to pick up the Herbalism skill, but doesn't have a background that fits the character knowing that skill, then the GM should step in and require a teacher. Maybe the GM can even make an adventure out of it.

And, as suggested by the Xoth Player's Guide, learning new things can be very expensive--depending on how the learning is applied or how much a teacher requires in compensation.

When a character advances a level, I award them their new hit points and bonuses due to that level. My thought is that the character has earned that through the acquisition of experience points.

What I don't do is allow new Feats and skills to magically improve the character. The character is eligible for a new Feat, now that he has attained the level, but the character may not have learned enough for the Feat to take effect. If the Feat is a combat feat, and the character has done a lot of fighting over the time of his previous level, then I automatically make that Feat available to him. But, if the character wants a Feat, like Improved Unarmed Strike, and I can't remember the last time the character attempted an unarmed strike, then the character needs to train.

For skills, I do the same. I just use common sense. If a character never climbs but wants to put some new points into his Climb skill, then he needs to start practicing.

Once players get the hang of this, they'll start practicing skills or finding trainers before they advance in level. Otherwise, they'll have to practice and/or find a trainer during their current level.

If a character wants to multiclass into a class where he has no experience, then the character has to do the same. A Scholar classed character cannot multi-class into a Soldier class without at least practicing weapons, getting used to wearing armor, etc. And, this usually requires a trainer to show the character how to fight. Again, if the player thinks of multiclassing his Scholar into a Scholar/Soldier at level 4, then at level 3, the player needs to have his character seek out training.

What About A Roll?

I typically just use common sense about Self Improvement, but if you want a roll, then pick the most appropriate character attribute and roll that or less on a d20. Success means that the character advances. Failure means that the character needs training before advancement is possible.

This works especially well with skills. Let's say that a Nomad character levels up and wants to use some of his new points to improve his Survival skill. That's a no-brainer for me. Survival is a Nomad class skill. I'd allow the improvement automatically. No training needed.

But, let's say that same Nomad wants to start a brand new skill--a skill he hasn't improved before--like Craft (Swordsmith). Mundane skills like these are Nomad class skills as well, but this Nomad has never improved the skill. He doesn't know much beyond what his innate knowledge gives him from his INT score.

In this case, I would probably require the Nomad to gain training from a smith. But, let's say that the Nomad's background was that he spent time among the Meadow Shemites, and the player says that there's at least a chance that he picked up some knowledge from a smith in one of those City-States.

In this instance, I might let the dice decide. Besides, dicing is fun! Craft (Swordsmith) is governed by INT. So, just throw a d20, looking for the Nomad's INT or less. If the roll is successful, then no training is required. The Nomad has the required background knowledge. If the roll fails, then training is required before any skill points can be applied to that skill for that character.

When a character advances a level, I award them their new hit points and bonuses due to that level. My thought is that the character has earned that through the acquisition of experience points.

What I don't do is allow new Feats and skills to magically improve the character. The character is eligible for a new Feat, now that he has attained the level, but the character may not have learned enough for the Feat to take effect. If the Feat is a combat feat, and the character has done a lot of fighting over the time of his previous level, then I automatically make that Feat available to him. But, if the character wants a Feat, like Improved Unarmed Strike, and I can't remember the last time the character attempted an unarmed strike, then the character needs to train.

For skills, I do the same. I just use common sense. If a character never climbs but wants to put some new points into his Climb skill, then he needs to start practicing.

Once players get the hang of this, they'll start practicing skills or finding trainers before they advance in level. Otherwise, they'll have to practice and/or find a trainer during their current level.

If a character wants to multiclass into a class where he has no experience, then the character has to do the same. A Scholar classed character cannot multi-class into a Soldier class without at least practicing weapons, getting used to wearing armor, etc. And, this usually requires a trainer to show the character how to fight. Again, if the player thinks of multiclassing his Scholar into a Scholar/Soldier at level 4, then at level 3, the player needs to have his character seek out training.

What About A Roll?

I typically just use common sense about Self Improvement, but if you want a roll, then pick the most appropriate character attribute and roll that or less on a d20. Success means that the character advances. Failure means that the character needs training before advancement is possible.

This works especially well with skills. Let's say that a Nomad character levels up and wants to use some of his new points to improve his Survival skill. That's a no-brainer for me. Survival is a Nomad class skill. I'd allow the improvement automatically. No training needed.

But, let's say that same Nomad wants to start a brand new skill--a skill he hasn't improved before--like Craft (Swordsmith). Mundane skills like these are Nomad class skills as well, but this Nomad has never improved the skill. He doesn't know much beyond what his innate knowledge gives him from his INT score.

In this case, I would probably require the Nomad to gain training from a smith. But, let's say that the Nomad's background was that he spent time among the Meadow Shemites, and the player says that there's at least a chance that he picked up some knowledge from a smith in one of those City-States.

In this instance, I might let the dice decide. Besides, dicing is fun! Craft (Swordsmith) is governed by INT. So, just throw a d20, looking for the Nomad's INT or less. If the roll is successful, then no training is required. The Nomad has the required background knowledge. If the roll fails, then training is required before any skill points can be applied to that skill for that character.

Here's a simple and easy to use rule in your game for character literacy.

First off, note that the NPC class for Commoners default to illiterate. If a Commoner classed character can read and write, it costs them 2 skill points.

In the game, all PCs are considered to be literate. I suggest giving each PC an extra 2 skill points that can only be put toward the Decipher Script skill. If this is a cross-class skill for the character, then the 2 points will net the character 1 rank in the skill, which is enough to consider the character as "trained". If the skill is a class skill, then the character starts the game with a bonus +2 ranks in that skill, which is appropriate for Scholars and Thieves, the only two classes that have Decipher Script as a class skill.

THE READING CHECK:

When a character needs to read something written in a language the he knows (the language is checked off on his character sheet as a known language), simply use the Decipher Script rules as written in the skills chapter--except use a DC 15. The character's skill roll indicates how well he reads.

The GM will use this same procedure for characters attempting to read something the character has written, except that the GM may want to modify the difficulty in reading the character's scribbling depending on the character's command of the language.

KNOWN LANGUAGES

The rules in the game are fairly liberal as to the number of languages known by a character. I suggest that you also consider the character's background when allowing starting languages. A Cimmerian from an isolated valley in Cimmeria might only know the Cimmerian language. So, even though the rules allow for a character to have several starting languages, it might be appropriate for the character to start the game only knowing the one language.

Note that some Conan fans say that there is no written Cimmerian language. It is a spoken-only form of communication. If this is the way it is in your game, then consider holding off on awarding the character bonus 2 skill points to Decipher Script. Once the character starts adventuring and learns another language that can be written (maybe using a trainer), then give the character the bonus skill points. You may even want to hold off awarding the bonus points until the character spends a skill point or two on Decipher Script.

The languages a character knows should be supported by his background. There is no need to give every character the maximum number of languages possible. Instead, use common sense and allow characters to know languages that grow organically from the character's previous adventures. Of course, the same goes for NPCs.

You'll find this spell on page 242 of the core rulebook. It requires 7 ranks in Knowledge (Arcana), so your character will have to be at least 3rd level to throw the spell (unless the character picks up some bonus ranks, which is possible, and which means the character might be able to throw this spell at a lower level). The character also needs to know the Warding spell from page 238.

You can throw this spell quickly--in the blink of an eye. Ward By Will requires a verbal component, and the casting time is a Free Action.

For the verbal component, come up with something that the player can say very quickly. Maybe a quick, magical phrase: "Vistari!" It is said every time the character invokes the spell.

Or, an even better idea is to come up with something that feeds into the roleplaying of the character. For example, a Stygian sorcerer may say something like, "Scales of Set!" A priest of Mitra may say use the verbal component of, "Mitra protects! Mitra shield me!" Or, "Power of Mitra!"

Either come up with something interesting that your player can remember and use every time he uses this spell, or, have your player get creative and come up with something.

The spell is awesome. For every power point spent, the warding the spell provides is 2 Damage Reduction. If the character spends 2 power points, then the character benefits from DR 4 for that combat round.

The DR is only against physical blows, and armor piercing works normally.

The beauty of this spell lies in the Sorcery Law of Success (from page 229). Whenever the spell works as intended, casting it again the following the round only costs half the PP cost, rounded down, to a minimum of one.

So, let's say that you are a 3rd level Scholar with WIS 16 and 8 Power Points. You cast this spell when someone attacks you with a sword, and you spend 4 PPs to get DR 8.

If your foes hits you, and you benefit from the DR 8, then the spell as worked as intended, and you can use the same spell again the next round at half the cost.

So, round two, you spend 2 more points (you've spent 6 of your total of , and you still get DR 8.

Again, if the spell works as intended, on round three, you can spend 1 PP to get DR 8.

And, on round four, you can spend your last PP to get another round of DR 8.

Unless you have a sorcerer in the character party, I suggest that you keep the rules for sorcery in the game secret. Keep the players as clueless about how magic works as their characters should be.

If you do this, you can get a side benefit: By round two or three, your attacker may think that you can have DR 8 indefinitely. You can play it up, too, by having the sorcerer character say something in combat, like (after a strike or two where the DR 8 has been used), "You can't harm me, mortal! Swing until your arms tire, it matters not!"

Sorcerers use their minds as well as any other asset they have at their disposal. Screwing with the minds of their enemies is definitely a tool used when possible!

From page 245 of the core rulebook. Great spell. Only costs 1 Power Point to cast. Casting time is one standard action. Somantic component, which is that the sorcerer must touch his target.

Lasts One Hour Per Level!

Requires Magic Attack Bonus +2, and must know Lesser Ill-Fortune and Calm of the Adept (and therefore, must have WIS 13+).

The sorcerer will generally have to be 4th level to use this spell, and the downside is the prerequisite spells just mentioned (if you want different spells for your character and have access to those spells).

And, of course....the sorcerer must touch his victim in order to cast the spell. That's a Touch Attack roll.

But.... what a monster this spell can be. Victim gets a Willpower Save to negate the spell--which is gives the victim two defenses in the Touch Attack and then, if successful, the Save. Magic Attack roll sets the DC for the Will Save.

IF the spell is successful, the sorcerer can take down ANYBODY. This spell was actually mentioned in the Howard story, Beyond the Black River. The victim was described as stopping and basically melting, rubber like, folding, into a lump of bendy flesh.

Can you imagine? A human body with no bones? It just flips and flops where gravity takes it.

This is POWERFUL spell, especially for a sorcerer who takes Feats and Skills to help him make Touch Attacks or increase his Magical Attack roll.

Once your foe is a tangled blob at your feet (for hours!), you can do with the flabby stuff as you will.

What's neat about this spell is that the victim may not know that he is being affected by it. Look at the rules for determining curses on page 242 of the core rulebook.

This spell lays a -2 modifier on the victim for a month. This penalty applies to all attack throws, saving rolls, and ability/skill checks.

In order to keep it secret, the GM must apply the modifier without alerting the player, if the target is a player character.

Casting time is one standard action. Range is Evil Eye, Touch, or Magical Link. So, if you can get a piece of the victim's clothing or a strand of hair, the sorcerer can use that Magical Link in order to cast the spell. The component is Verbal only.

A 1st level Sorcerer could conceivably use this spell if he had access to the spell and Lesser Ill-Fortune.

Of course, the Lesser version of the spell is easier and convey's a -1 modifier.